How can It harm me? • Few develop quickly – acute silicosis, asthma • Most take a long time – years • Regularly breathing small amounts adds up over the years • By the time you notice it may be too late to do anything about it > Important to control every single exposure

How can it harm me? Statistics are imprecise: • 500+ silica related deaths in 2004 – over 10 a week • Silica is the second most important cause of occupational lung cancer after asbestos • Construction workers 2 -3 times greater risk of COPD • Other research backs up link between construction work and lung disease • Reduced quality of life and shorter working life

How much Dust is a problem? • Depends upon – Amount of dust – Size of the dust particles – Type of dust

How much Dust is a problem? • Limit is the legal maximum, the most you can breathe after the right controls have been used. • No short term limits BUT should not exceed x 3 over a 15 min period • Many construction tasks are short duration with very high exposure peaks

Control (the risk) The law requires: • First try and prevent exposure: – Design out, use different materials or processes • Adequately control the remaining risk: – Higher the risk the better the controls needed